ADDIS ABABA, May 20 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) on Monday stressed that its observers are set to inspect the credibility of Malawi's tripartite elections slated for May 21.

The 55-member pan African bloc, as part of its independent election observation mission to Malawi's election, had dispatched Ghana's former president John Dramani Mahama, who arrived in Malawi on Sunday as the head of the AU Election Observation Mission (AUEOM).

The objective of mission is to "make an independent, objective and impartial assessment of the May 21 tripartite elections in Malawi, in accordance with the national, regional and international standards for democratic elections," the AU said in a statement.

The tripartite elections in Malawi, which include presidential, parliamentary, and local government elections, are scheduled to be held on Tuesday, as over 6.8 million Malawians have registered to vote across the country, according to figures from the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC).

The AUEOM to Malawi is mainly comprised of seven long-term observers, 22 short-term observers, and six technical and training experts, it was noted.

Seven presidential candidates and 1,329 parliamentary candidates are contesting in 193 constituencies, while 2,709 candidates are contesting in 462 local government areas, according to the MEC.